.... With news of Britain First’s Facebook page being banned, we should recognise that these are challenges across all parts of society, and give due regard to the intolerance of Muslims among a large section of our society. Yet too often, people ignore the challenges faced by the “white British” population in favour of a conception of a “top-down, mono-nationalist and establishment ‘British values’ approach”, which assumes it is only the non-white “other” people who must be civilised.
.... And again this week, Muslims across the country received “Punish a Muslim Day” letters, and four Muslim MPs received suspicious packages, the government response was extremely poor. Victoria Atkins, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the home department, ignored questions asked by MPs and cited the security fund to protect places of worship – a fund that is currently closed.
On Wednesday, the Muslim Council of Britain report on integration stated that “all Muslims in their full diversity … cannot and should not be treated as anything but equal citizens, and our expectations cannot be different”.
For any government strategy affecting Muslim communities to succeed, there needs to be a fundamental rethink of the government’s approach – one where trust is rebuilt, communities are listened to and action is taken. I cautiously hope this green paper – a vast improvement on the Casey Review – will be the start of this change in approach, but I am not holding my breath. [Guardian Cif] Read more
